China

Thursday, January 13, 2011

The Forbidden City, Beijing

The Forbidden City, which was a home to 24 emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, is the best-preserved imperial palace in China and the largest palatial formation in the world. The Forbidden City, situated in the hart of Beijing, consists of 90 palaces and courtyards. There are 980 buildings and 8,704 rooms and few gardens.

In ancient Chinese times, the emperor proclaimed himself as the son of Heaven. The emperors’ palace was built as a replica of the Purple Palace, a God residence in Heaven. The emperor palace was perceived as a divine place and was forbidden to ordinary citizens, visitors, therefore it received the name Forbidden City.

Forbidden City situated in the heart of Beijing, was by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 1987, the Imperial Palace Museum is one of the most popular tourist attractions world-wide.

Forbidden City contains of 980 buildings within its walls.

Marvelous painted decorations on the royal palaces.

Yellow as a symbol of the royal family is the dominant color in the Forbidden City. Roofs were built with yellow glazed tiles, decorations in the palace were painted yellow as well as the pavement stones undergone a special process to appear yellow.

Roof Charms. Decorative dragons and animals, guard the roofs of the Royal palaces in the Forbidden City. Chinese people believed that they would ward off evil spirits.

Sundial located on one of the courtyard in the Forbidden City.

Unbelievably large door stopper.

The interiorof oneof the rooms in the Forbidden City.

Beautifully carvedfurniture, the design is very intricate and stunning.

The construction of the imperial palace begun in 1407, in the 5th year of the Yongle reign and was completed fourteen years later in 1420.

Beware of the Guardian Foo lion. This statue of lion guards the halls and chambers of the Imperial palace in the Forbidden City. It is one of an example of bronze guardian figures which includes statues of dragons and turtles.

The Hall of Supreme harmony in Forbidden City is guarded by this bronze statue of turtle. Despite its fearsome appearance, the turtle was viewed in China as a symbol of peace.